Preamble

I want to write here more often, but I keep drafting as if every post must survive cross-examination by a bored lawyer and an angry mathematician.

A little prosecutor in my head objects to every sentence. "What about X?", "Why not Y?", "Isn't Z a counterexample?" Long before you ever see a draft, I have fought him. I have weighed the trade-offs, tried the alternatives, and argued the counterarguments. The jury finds in my favor; the prosecutor accepts the verdict and appeals as a matter of principle.

The trouble is the next step. Turning that private debate into a public, undefeated proof is a reliable method for producing two posts a year, both of them lovingly polished and immediately obsolete.

I have to make my peace with dissent. Even years of thought do not entitle me to every reader's agreement. Nor am I required to answer every armchair counterpoint before it is made, even if that invites the lazy conclusion that my argument is merely a defense of petty preferences.

If I have mistaken anxiety for rigor, and my thoughts are shallower than I feared while my readers are deeper than I assumed, I trust you will let me know. All three of you know where to find me.